Pixel Penguin Accused of ‘Charity Blanket’, Epic Adds New NFT Games and More…
Pixel Penguin alleged “charity project blanket”
Nonfungible token (NFT) project Pixel Penguin has caused a stir this week in what blockchain researcher ZachXBT has claimed is a “charity project blanket”.
The project started quietly in February, but attracted a lot of attention on May 31 after a Twitter thread from Web3 influencer Andrew Wang.
Wang claimed that his friend Sarah, known as Hopeexist1 online, was the creator of Pixel Penguins, noting that she had “created a collection to help herself in her fight against cancer.”
At a mint price of $13, Wang claimed that 20% of the profits would go to charity, while the other 80% would go towards Hopeexist1’s supposed cancer treatment.
“I will put my representative on the line to say this is real, amidst all the frauds in our room,” Wang said, adding: “I often talk to her art teacher when she has gone for treatment and he says she is the best student he ever had, that her talent is too valuable, that she must survive.”
Following this, Pixel Penguin’s NFTs immediately sold out, with the floor price increasing from 0.0099 Ether (ETH) to around 0.0126 ETH worth approximately $130. But members of the NFT community did some digging and alleged that the creator had profited from selling stolen art in the past, potentially lying about having cancer.
ZachXBT then found the Pixel Penguin smart contract containing more than $117,000 worth of ETH, and tracked those funds as they were transferred to two new wallet addresses.
In the aftermath, Hopeexist1 then deleted their Twitter account and went AWOL. The floor price of the NFTs has since fallen to 0.004 ETH, or $7.
Epic Games Store to add more blockchain games
Fortnite developers Epic Games will soon release two new blockchain games to the store, adding to the five already up and available to play.
One of the upcoming games is called Defimons, a free-to-play Pokémon-inspired multiplayer RPG with turn-based combat.
The game will have an in-game currency and NFT battle monster figures bearing the same name as the title. The Epic Games Store shows no release date.
The other blockchain game is called Project Red, which appears to have open-world elements inspired by games like Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row, along with a first-person shooter mode as well.
The early snippets of the game reveal that people must purchase Mobster NFTs to navigate through the higher levels and engage in the play-to-earn elements of the game.
Epic Games originally listed Blanko’s Block Party as the first Web3 game in its store back in September 2022, and while these types of games still receive strong skepticism from many traditional gamers, the company isn’t backing down from this space.
Epic Games recently indicated to Axios in March that it plans to add approximately 20 new blockchain games during 2023 and early 2024.
Related: Japan’s largest airline launches NFT marketplace
Three Arrows NFT garage sale part two
Following the first $2.5 million auction of NFTs belonging to defunct crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), the second round is set to take place this month.
3AC’s collection of NFTs is called Grails, and has a long list of tokens from top projects like CrytoPunks, Tyler Hobbs’ Fidenzas, and Dmitri Cherniak’s Ringers.
In the second round set for June 15, Sotheby’s will auction off 37 of 3AC’s NFTs in what they describe as “the largest ever live auction of digital art.”
Kellogg’s seeps into the Metaverse
Kellogg’s has reportedly applied for a long list of trademarks for a number of its food brands related to the Metaverse, NFTs, collectibles and crypto tokens.
Some of the brands include Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, Special K and Pop-Tarts.
According to US Patent and Trademark Office licensed trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis, the firm has indicated interest in launching everything from NFT avatars to crypto collectibles, virtual environments and VR games centered around crypto.
Other good news
Some of the most sought-after NFT collections in 2022 have seen tremendous value over the past year, with investments in top projects such as Doodles, Invisible Friends, Moonbirds, and Goblintown all losing up to 95% of their value in ETH.
On May 31, Web3 wallet-as-a-service provider Magic announced that it had raised $52 million in a strategic funding round led by PayPal Ventures. The funding round also saw participation from venture capital firms Cherubic, Synchrony, KX, Northzone and Volt Capital, bringing Magic’s total funds raised to over $80 million.
Blade: NFT Creator, 0xDEAFBEEF: Mad Scientist’s NFTs degrade when traded
